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Police-plank-Chief
Background Chief Of Police, Robert McNeilly, held the post for nearly 10 years while Tom Murphy was mayor. McNeilly was a commander before he was promoted to chief in April 1996. The 2006 city budget provides money for 12 police commanders, two more than the 2005 staff. http://pittsburghlive.com/photos/2005-12-24/1224pmcneilly-b.jpg Notes about ex-Chief, McNeilly McNeilly's perks for retirement, http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/archive/s_409888.html, detailed in the Pgh Tribune Review in Jan 2006. Pensions present a looming problem. McNeilly ordered new standards of professionalism. "Accountability, integrity and respect. That's our motto," McNeilly said. "And those are the words we built the bureau around." Officers underwent retraining in cultural diversity, communication skills and then took new classes in the use of force. They were also required to keep strict records of all traffic stops. "We do observation and we make sure, we don't stop someone who's not suspected of drug abuse," McNeilly said. As a result, lawsuits have slowed to a trickle. Police car crashes involving over-aggressive young officers nearly disappeared. Most importantly, serious crimes such as murder, rape and robbery fell about 30 percent during McNeilly's tenure. Some officers felt McNeilly didn't stand up for his troops when the mayor laid off police officers and the bureau's numbers dropped from 1,170 officers to less than 900. Instead, he criticized the officers themselves for inappropriate demonstrations. "I don't think that's an example of professional police officers," McNeilly said. McNeilly would accept a three-rank demotion, $14,000 less per year, to extend his 29-year tenure with the bureau after Mayor-elect Bob O'Connor takes office. Outgoing Mayor Tom Murphy hasn't taken action to install McNeilly as one of 10 police commanders. And he won't. "I have not done anything, and I'm not going to do anything. He's going to go out as the chief," Murphy said as he packed three dozen framed pictures and paintings into a white Chevy Trailblazer. "It's entirely up to Bob if he wants to fire him." The new chief is slated to earn $92,285. A commander's salary is $77,927. During O'Connor's mayoral campaign in 2001, O'Connor pledged to replace McNeilly as chief. McNeilly and his wife, Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly, fired back by hosting a brunch for Mayor Tom Murphy. Catherine McNeilly also wrote letters to her Brookline neighbors urging them to vote against O'Connor, who lost in the Democratic primary to Murphy. The city solicitor said the letter violated an ordinance banning certain political activities by police officers, but Catherine McNeilly was not disciplined. In 2006, O'Connor fired McNeilly as chief. Police Chief candidates * Assistant Chief of Operations Nate Harper, * Deputy Chief William Mullen, * Cmdr. Paul Donaldson, and * Dominic Costa, a former 29-year city police officer and commander who is then became public safety director in Penn Hills. Dom Costa retired from the city police bureau on a disability pension after he was shot during a standoff with a gunman in Homewood. * Robert McNeilly applied for a job as an investigator with the state Gaming Control Commission, which regulates Pennsylvania's new slots gambling industry. Links * Police Media * Trib article about snub to ex-chief from March 2006 Category: Planks_from_elsewhere